Book Review ~ House of Mercy by Erin Healy @erinhealybooks

Beth as a gift of healing—which is why she wants to become a vet
and help her family run their fifth-generation cattle ranch. Her father’s dream
of helping men in trouble and giving them a second chance is her dream too. But
it only takes one foolish decision to destroy it all.

Beth scrambles to redeem her mistake, pleading with God for help,
even as a mystery complicates her life. The repercusions grow more unbearable—a
lawsuit, a death, a divided family, and the looming loss of everything she
cares about. Beth’s only hope is to find the grandfather she never knew and beg
for his help. Confused, grieving , and determined to make amends, she embarks
on a horseback journey across the mountains guided by a wild, unpredictable
wolf who may or may not be real.

Set in the stunningly rugged terrain of Southern Colorado, House of Mercy follows Beth through the valley
of the shadow of death into the unfathomable miracles of mercy.

Erin Healy is an award-winning editor and bestselling co-author of the supernatural suspense novels Kiss (Thomas
Nelson | 2009) and Burn (Thomas Nelson | January 2010) with Ted Dekker. Her
solo debut, Never Let You Go (Thomas Nelson | May 2010), ushered in a new brand
of fiction, building on her work with Dekker, that melds supernatural suspense
with female-friendly relational drama.

Healy is the owner of WordWright Editorial Services and
specializes in fiction book development. She has worked with popular authors such
as Frank Peretti, James Scott Bell, Melody Carlson, Colleen Coble, L. B.
Graham, Brandilyn Collins, Rene Gutteridge, Michelle

Healy earned her bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in
communication studies from Westmont College in Santa Barbara, Calif., and began
her career as an editor for Christian Parenting Today during the mid-1990s.
After advancing from assistant editor, to associate editor, to editor while
working for the magazine, she moved on to serve as a book editor for WaterBrook
Press. She founded WordWright Editorial Services in 2002.

Healy began working for Dekker the same year, editing 12 of his
well-known, heart-pounding stories, before collaborating with him as a
co-author on Kiss and Burn. Her solo debut, Never Let You Go, is a supernatural
suspense tale about a single mother’s struggle to protect her daughter as
threatening elements from her past unexpectedly re-emerge.

Healy currently resides in Colorado Springs, Colo., with her
husband, Tim, and two children. She is a member of International Thriller Writers
and the American Christian Fiction Writers.

My
thoughts:

Have you ever done something on impulse that wound up having
repercussions that extend far beyond what you could have ever imagined? Have
you ever struggled with how to undo what has already been done?

That is exactly the spot we find our lead character in when we
meet her. She makes a decision against her better judgment that begins a
downward spiral not only for herself but for those that she loves the most.

At one time if you would have asked me if I liked speculative
fiction I would have said no…but then along came Erin Healy. This woman has
such talent. She takes the seemingly implausible and turns it into something
completely believable. I continually ask myself how she comes up with this
stuff while I’m reading her work.

In House of Mercy, Erin
gives us a peak at where the idea for this book came from. In the back of the
book under the author’s note section she shares about an extremely difficult
time in her life. During a conversation with God, she felt like He was asking
her, “Do you believe I’m good even when I don’t give you what you think you
need?” And that is where the storyline was born.

Throughout the story Beth calls out for God to have mercy. God
continually tells her that He will show her mercy. But He also reminds her that
His mercy doesn’t exist because of who Beth is. It exists because of Who God
is.

Towards the end of the book the message of mercy was so powerful
that I literally had to put the book down and spend a moment of private praise
and worship. You can’t help but examine the mercy that has been shown to you in
your life.

Five stars, two thumbs up, and all of that! Go get this book…you
will not regret it!